Without a doubt, WordPress is the leading CMS platform. Numerous blogs and business websites are based on WordPress and the ‘once-for-bloggers’ platform reached business-level maturity a long time ago. Many ask the question- Wordpress or Drupal? Which CMS would be better for my business? You will find the answer in our article.
At the same time, it’s important to notice that there are reasons why there are so many CMS platforms out there. As much as we would like, sometimes it’s impossible to be a one-size-fits-all solution, and it’s a good idea to consider certain implications before we settle on a platform for our e-commerce site or business.
Similarities between WordPress and Drupal
- Both are open-source- this is excellent news for those who believe in the security-by-audit philosophy. Since both projects have their code available to the public, anyone with a trained coding eye can inspect the website code for any potential backdoors or security holes. Moreover, utilizing open-source technologies means no pesky licensing fees!
- Both are made for easy publishing- just as in WordPress, Drupal also features a similar set of tools available for the content creator, the editor and the administrator.
- Both are safe & secure platforms- although WordPress handles security much different than Drupal, both CMS platforms can be considered secure by default install. However, once templates and features are added, security-wise, things begin to differ in both platforms – and we’re here to discuss that.
Now that we know the basic similarities let’s discuss what makes Drupal 8 radically different.
1. Functionality
Taking a first look at Drupal can be overwhelming sometimes – and this due to the sheer amount of functionality which the platform packs out of the box.
Post Types
Here is where we have an easy choice which CMS is better to choose- Wordpress or Drupal. Drupal offers much more flexibility than WordPress. For example, a completely different theme and layout can be used for each type of post.
Access accounts and user permissions
Whereas WordPress allows you to designate a certain role to a user, Drupal features an extensive control panel, which allows the administrator to create unique roles, as well as give access to particular sets of data.
Multi-language support
Drupal 8 supports multi-language websites by default, out of the box; this is particularly useful in business and e-commerce sites. In WordPress, this functionality has to be expanded through the use of plugins, which can oftentimes conflict with other features of the site.
Content management
The Drupal taxonomy system is much more flexible than that of WordPress. As such, it can handle significantly more content.
More integrations with business platforms
Whereas WordPress is the king of functionality-extending plugins, Drupal leads the way in B2B platform integrations. Whether it’s SalesForce or other CRMs, Drupal is optimized to integrate with external business platforms.
2. Security
For some people, choosing WordPress or Drupal does not make any difference. However, when we take a deeper look, there are many dissimilarities which in final count decide about the superiority of a particular solution. One of the biggest differences between WordPress and Drupal is how it handles security.
Although both CMS platforms are secure out of the box (in the default installation), as features are added, WordPress gives way to Drupal in terms of system security.
This is a direct result of different design ideologies of these two projects. Drupal tries to be as feature-rich and extensive as possible upon default install, whereas WordPress relies on several core features and counts on extensions to fill the gap of missing functionality.
Although there are clear guidelines on how to create proper and secure WordPress plugins, nonetheless each plugin is made by a different developer with a different mindset. One can thus notice the multiplicity of WordPress plugins aiming to deliver the same result. Some work, others don’t. Some work in the front-end, but have security holes in the back-end. This is exactly where the security risk steps in. A successful business or e-commerce site cannot afford to utilize potentially risky plugins.
Drupal, on the other hand, is known for its security-oriented design. According to Sucuri.net reports published on ZDnet, WordPress is the most hacked CMS system out there, accounting for 90% of all hacked CMS systems in 2018. Drupal, on the other hand, accounts for … 3.7%. This is perhaps one of the reasons why it’s the CMS of choice for large businesses, governments and e-commerce sites.
Moreover, the Drupal development community regularly publishes Drupal Security Advisories, earning a favourable reputation among web developers for project security and transparency.
3. E-commerce solutions
Perhaps you’re not ready to sell online at this point. However, it would be beneficial to set up your online operations today in such way that if you ever decide to go „on-line”, your platform could be able to scale up with you, without a ground-up rebuild.
Drupal was built with this in mind. As a CMS platform, Drupal is streamlined and lightweight as possible, thus allowing the business owner to run their website with minimal resources. At the same time, it’s a well-engineered sleeping giant which can easily scale up to power enterprise-level platforms. Exactly for this purpose Drupal has hundreds of e-commerce modules, such as the powerful Magento platform or Drupal Commerce, geared towards creating safe & reliable online stores.
4. Configurability
One of the pillars of the Drupal project is giving the users the power to create highly customized pages, specifically-tailored to their needs. This is why there are 42,000 modules and over 2,500 themes available for Drupal out of the box.
Unlike WordPress, however, Drupal community has strict development guidelines which absolutely have to be followed in order to publish a module or a plugin. This ensures that the modules and themes outlined above do not create conflicts or break each other's functionality, which is often the case with WordPress plugins.
5. SEO
Given its track record in reliability, low resource consumption and response time, it’s no wonder that Drupal-based websites and portals rank very high in organic search results. Moreover, out of the box Drupal supports advanced back-end caching features aimed at speeding up page delivery, as well as numerous SEO-enhancing plugins (just as WordPress).
Summary- Wordpress or Drupal?
If you’re a business owner thinking of setting up your website or you already have a CMS-based site, it’s always a good idea to weigh pros and cons of each platform, before settling on one. Sometimes WordPress development can be more economic, but problematic in the long-run. Drupal, on the other hand, can be overwhelming at first, but then it’s a powerful and scalable platform ready for the future.